Carl Wilkins, a successful man with a thriving business, loses everything and has to start over from scratch. His dogged determination quickly deteriorates when he finds that even his reputation is gone. With barely enough money to buy a cheap bottle of booze, and no prospects for employment, things look bleak until he receives an unusual job offer from a stranger who turns up just as Carl hits rock bottom. The perilous space salvage job is more than just a chance to rebuild his broken life. It is also a chance to strike back at SACOM, the people who ruined him. Carl, the best space salvage operator in the star system, bets his life that he can complete the job. Setting out in the Phoenix, a specially modified space freighter, Carl begins a dangerous mission to find and collect missing cargo pods from the dense asteroid belt. Struggling to remain alive in the belt while avoiding detection by SACOM ships, Carl learns that he may have as much to fear from the people who hired him as he does from SACOM. His chance to rebuild his life turns into a desperate race across the galaxy in hopes of finding a safe haven where no one will ever find him.

If you enjoy books regarding space travel such as Firefly, then I think you’ve just found your next read.

Veronica Phoenix will definitely please any bookworm who favors the sci-fi genre.

There were bots, AI with holographic breasts, battle scenes, crashes, and much more.

Interested yet?

Yeah, I bet I had you at holographic breasts. 🙂 JK

Speaking of Veronica/Billy (AI), five minutes alone with the AI and I’d be one bald momma due to pulling out all my lovely locks. After reading all their conversations, I can see why Carl found the AI infuriating to speak with. Its favorite word had to be “cannot”.

After months alone together a ship, I’m surprised he didn’t go batshit crazy.

Hell, I would’ve been one cranky chick over the food I had to consume. If you call goop in a squeeze tube food. Ok, I can get behind yogurt, applesauce, or pudding in a squeeze pouch but steak and eggs? That’s where I draw the line!!

Before I wrap this up, I want to touch base on an edit related error. On page 57, in my print copy (supplied to me by Jim), John and Earl die first leaving Vince and Becca knocking on death’s door. Flip to page 59, Becca dies and Earl dies again. A minor editing oversight by Jim and his editor (Cynthia Shepp) but one I felt the need to mention to HIM and to YOU.

FYI: He said he was going make the necessary changes so by the time you read this review it’ll be changed in the latest print editions and for your e-readers. Only those who’ve already purchased an old copy (prior to March 2016) will be affected with the wrong name usage.

Besides that one hiccup, every detail seemed on point and, to that, I say good job Jim and Cynthia.

Fighting to remain one step ahead of SACOM, Nolan Peters and Megan Carson investigate the mysterious disappearance of their friend, Carl Wilkins. During the investigation, Nolan struggles with his growing affection for Megan, while she tries to cope with the recent death of her husband. Will the strain bring them together, or drive them apart? When the pair uncovers evidence of a treasonous conspiracy that threatens the stability of all human worlds across the galaxy, they reluctantly put their trust in a SACOM investigator and a hard-nosed Army general to root out the conspirators. Will their trust prove to be their undoing… or prevent a galactic-scale military coup?

Anyone who loves or even likes science fiction books/movies a teeny wee bit will absolutely find pleasure in Search for the Phoenix. It made me long to kick back on the couch, with a huge bowl of popcorn, and binge watch my favorite scifi shows. It also made me wish food synthesizers weren’t only found in the land of make-believe. So inventors, hop to it and contact me to be your guinea pig because I’d happily put this invention to the test. 🙂

Besides this wicked cool product idea, I enjoyed the level of conspiracy, double-cross happenings and the chemistry between the various characters.

One of my favorite interactions of the book didn’t happen between humans though. Strangely enough, it occurred between Nolan and the rats. When he shrieked, ran, and smacked his head against a large, water pipe, I laughed because I would’ve reacted the same way. Heck, ain’t no shame in showing fear or running away from a rodent. Those pests are scary!

Now for the conspiracy, double-crossing aspects of the story, which made up a great portion of this creation, I’m going to quote Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith and say, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

I worked for decades as an engineer and laboratory scientist while my wife and I raised our four children. I had wanted to write since high school, and in early 2008 I began writing my first novel, publishing it in July of 2012. I published my second novel later that same year.

In 2013, after realizing neither of my novels was of publication quality, I unpublished them and spent several months re-evaluating my priorities. I returned to writing later that year committed to making sure each new book was as good as I could make it at the time, and determined to improving my writing skills with each new book published.

Having finally found my found my writing voice, Veronica Phoenix flowed to the page, as did its sequel, Search for the Phoenix. I am currently considering story ideas for my next novel.

Free? I've been waiting to buy "Search for Phoenix" because after I bought Verinica Phoenix it sucked me in! What a distraction! Great SciFi, terrific characters and complex enough to be thoroughly entertaining! I gave Phoenix 5 stars review on Amazon and GoodReads! C J.